#WALK1000MILES
One of the reasons we love to walk is the connection it gives us to people, places and memories. All these Challengers choose to honour the most important dates on their calendars with a walk. Here’s why…
‘To celebrate being alive’
‘We have created a new occasion to celebrate each year – my “I’m Still Here!” Day. Two and a half years ago I was rushed into an emergency operation for a twisted bowel, and I was lucky to make it through the night. It was a long recovery. When I got home it was such an effort to walk even to the end of the road, and I wondered if I would ever properly walk again.
‘So when the first anniversary came around, and I was sooo much better, we decided to celebrate with a stunning walk… and a night in a posh hotel. It was so special we decided we would take the day off work each year to go for a walk and stay somewhere nice to celebrate the fact I’m still here!
‘The photo is near the end of the walk that first year, by the Great Hangman cliffs in Devon. It was the furthest and trickiest walk since I’d been poorly, but oh so special! I especially like that the walk has to be followed by a posh hotel!’
Susie Simmons
‘It’s everything I need’
‘My go-to place for my birthday is the Lake District – a place that rules my heart. My birthday is February so the weather can be unpredictable, but to sit up on a fell with my plastic wine glass, a bottle of Prosecco and a French fancy cake with a candle is all I need to make my birthday special. (Oh… and my Other Half!)’
Cynthia Parton
‘In memory of this loyal companion’
‘The Peter Rabbit Trail at Langdon Nature Discovery Park, Essex, holds a very special place in my heart. We had many a walk over there when my baby girl Bonnie was with us. Unfortunately, we lost her a few years ago now, but have so many beautiful memories of our walks together – 18 years of love! So I try to get over there whenever possible and celebrate all the wonderful times we had together.’
Kaye Howe
‘A spiritual pilgrimage’
‘A few years ago, I set out to do all the walks in my Durham, North Pennines and Tyne & Wear walking book. I saved the best until last – High Cup Nick. I even produced a small bottle of bubbly and a couple of (plastic) champagne flutes as a surprise to my husband when we completed it. You can take many photos up there, but they can never capture the scenery or atmosphere of the place. I’m not a religious person, but every time I've done that walk since, it feels like a spiritual pilgrimage.’
Elaine Greener
‘To feel closer to my husband’
‘My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly on my birthday weekend. Naturally, I don’t really feel like being around other people or celebrating my birthday. For my 50th, two years before, Keith took me on a surprise weekend away in Cornwall. Now every year I stay in Cornwall at that time. I have a special little spot at Land’s End where I remember us being so happy and laughing as we took a photo. Every year now I go back to walk to that spot, place a little memory pebble and sit awhile with my memories, feeling close to my husband.’
Rhiannon Sturdy
‘For our wedding anniversary’
‘Every single wedding anniversary, we walk. We met through shared interests of being active and enjoying the outdoors, and walking is our ‘home away from home’ – a place of beauty, calmness and positive health. I can’t imagine a wedding anniversary without walking! We enjoy countryside and riverside routes in our county of Hertfordshire and nearby. It builds up a nice appetite to then enjoy some food too!’
Stephanie Adams
‘Being back in the land I love’
‘Every year in May/June when I go back to my beloved Scotland, I have to do the four lochs walk up to Loch Ordie near Dunkeld. Lochs, hills, remoteness and even sometimes hearing a cuckoo… I even walk it in my head when I can’t sleep!’
Fiona Crockett
‘To remind me that walking is wonderful’
‘Every year for my birthday we stay in the Yorkshire Dales, and on the day itself I get to choose the walk. It will contain everything I need in order to be happy: namely, gorgeous scenery, egg mayonnaise sandwiches, a flask of coffee and the happiness that comes from realising that I can still get through the squeeze stiles! (Just!)
‘Oh, and my husband striding along beside me.
‘Simple pleasures, but a yearly birthday reminder that without walking, I wouldn’t be able to take these pictures, enjoy that view, or stay slim enough for those stiles. Definitely something to celebrate!’
Sally Jones
‘To remember our first steps together’
‘My wife Helen and I met back in 2010 and our first “date” was a walk together from Llangollen out to World’s End and then back along the Eglwyseg escarpment overlooking the magnificent Dee Valley. Where possible we repeat this walk every year on the same day in April to celebrate our good fortune and enjoy the views along the way. It is such a spectacular place to walk, as anyone who has walked here will know. We make a point of stopping for a brew at this large boulder on the edge of the escarpment overlooking Castell Dinas Bran and Llangollen. The memory of those first steps together is so special to us both. And amazingly the sun (nearly) always shines!’
Martin Marco King